


Memories Like Leaves

by nativemossy



Series: Before The Rain Began [2]
Category: Iron Man (Comics), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Non-Chronological, Pre-Slash, Snippets, Tony Stark Has A Heart, bath bombs, raking leaves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-01-23 08:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21316939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nativemossy/pseuds/nativemossy
Summary: The happenings of the friends and family of Resilient Cafe as told through pictures hung on the walls.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: Before The Rain Began [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1473377
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49
Collections: Tony Stark Flash Bingo





	1. Too Many Tonys

**Author's Note:**

> This (chapter and fic) can totally be read as a standalone but happens after the events of Resilient and before Tony and Bucky actually begin dating.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A handful of people are clustered into the middle of the photo, closely surrounding a sheepish Tony in a witch costume. Everyone is grinning, arms all around each other as they posed for the picture. The photo sits nearly in the center of the wall, a little sun-faded and worn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fill for Tony Stark Flash Bingo 002 "Witches/Witchcraft"

“A witch, really?” Tony turned to face Natasha, meeting her skeptical look with delicately raised eyebrow. 

“Sometimes the classics are classics for a reason. Besides, my legs look killer in this skirt and this hat does everything for my coiffure.” He gave a dramatic fluff to his hair, leaning out of the way as she aimed a swipe at his hat as he passed. “At least I’m dressed up, what are you? A cranky grinch?”

If anything Natasha glowered harder, snatching his proffered mocha with a grunt. “You are lucky I like you, or that comment would not have ended well, Anthony.”

Tony gave a mock wince, gripping at his heart with both hands. “My full name? You wound me Natasha!” He snuck a look at her from under the wide brim of his hat and, seeing her look unconvinced, gave a little swoon, loudly lamenting his betrayal just to see the corner of her mouth tick up.

He heard the back door open, accompanied by the sounds of Peter and Harley removing their coats and chatting lowly. Tony called a greeting into the kitchen before walking to the till, taking a few orders and humming along to the music playing softly in the background. He turned to greet the boys when he heard them walk in from the back and they were. Well, they were-

“Hey Tony.” They said, in the creepy unison they sometimes managed. They both had terrible approximations of his beard painted on, some truly insulting wrinkles around their eyes and forehead and, were those-?

“Are those my shirts?!” He asked, trying not to laugh along with them as they both broke into peals of laughter. “Where did you two gremlins even get those?”

“Your laundry,” Peter said, looking down at where Harley was gripping the counter, tears in his eyes. “We were waiting for you to notice they were gone, it’s been like three weeks.”

Tony began to laugh despite himself. He felt warm as he turned back to the counter, self-consciously adjusting his hat as he went. “Get your aprons on if you actually want to do work today.” He grumbled, studiously ignoring Natasha’s laughing eyes as he blushed furiously into a coffee cup.

The worst part was that they weren’t the only Tonys that showed up to the shop that day. Sam arrived first, dressed in his usual clothes save for a crooked goatee scrawled on his chin. Then there was Riri, with her own band shirt and a terrible cheap wig of loose brown curls, who was followed a few minutes later by Clint, who simply wore a name tag that said “Tony.” Bucky joined the rowdy group in the mid-afternoon, making a minimal effort with a cat-eared headband and a black coat.

“Come on man, we all said we’d do it!” Clint complained, getting an elbow in his ribs for his trouble. Bucky didn’t react much other than to pull a small digital camera out of the inner pocket of his coat, brandishing it to the group with a wry smile.

The kids, predictably, lost their tiny minds, gathering the small crowd of Tonys and Tony himself, gathering all around him in a warm huddle. Harley and Sam got on either side of him, throwing arms over his shoulders and jostling him as everyone got settled for the photo. Tony reached up to adjust his hat, feeling his cheeks burn as the camera flashed and took a photo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i missed my cafe morons, what can i say
> 
> i do take prompts! hit me up on [tumblr](https://nativemossy.tumblr.com/), or [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/nativemossy), though I make no promises on fulfilling all of them.


	2. Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a photo Bucky is shown laid out on a couch, wrapped in a blanket with a little patch of white fur curled up over his shoulder. He wears a ragged shirt with threadbare patterned pajama pants, and his bare feet dangle off the arm of his couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fill for Tony Stark Flash Bingo 002 "Bucky Barnes"
> 
> i think we all know I couldn't not write in Alpine, it just wasn't gonna happen

Tony was going to kill Bucky, just as soon as he figured out where the hell he was.

It was a Thursday, which meant that he had a therapy appointment at the VA that afternoon. Bucky and Tony had an unspoken agreement where Bucky would drop by the shop afterward to check in, or at least text Tony to let him know he was ok, but not up to the company.

Tony had heard nothing from him all day, which naturally sent him into a panicked spiral of what could have possibly gone wrong. Everything from Bucky skipping town to being run over by a bus crossed Tony’s mind, and attempting to temper those thoughts and focus on getting through the day so he could drop by his apartment only did so much good. Tony could (grudgingly) adknowledge to himself that this was his anxiety snowballing a relatively minor situation into a catastrophe, but that didn't stop him from glancing at his phone every few minutes, or checking the door every time he heard the bell.

He eventually called it quits about an hour before close, sending Harley and the last few stragglers home after rushing along cleanup as much as he justifiably could.

He almost forgot to grab his coat as he made his way out the door, then made a belated return to lock up before actually making his way to Bucky’s apartment. This wasn’t the first time Bucky had gone incommunicado, and it really wasn’t the first agonizing walk he had had to the tiny apartment, though that didn’t make it any easier or feel any shorter.

Tony's new therapist had a lot to say about nervous episodes like this, and Tony was sure he'd have more to say later. Tony couldn't bring himself to care about that, not yet at least.

He fumbled his keys as he got to the door, knocking a few times and listening for any movement inside. He heard nothing but the faint sound of the television, so he unlocked the door, shouldering his way inside the warm apartment. He pulled a bit at the collar of his coat as he shut the door behind himself, looking around a bit frantically for a familiar head of brown hair.

He noticed Bucky fairly quick, bundled up on the couch fast asleep in a giant fleece blanket with his bare feet hanging off the arm. Tony felt his chest loosen a bit as he took a few stumbling steps toward the couch, slipping off his shoes as he went. As he got closer he could hear the soft susurrus of Bucky’s breathing, and a soft rumbling sound coming from a scrap of white fur curled up on Bucky’s bad shoulder.

Son of a bitch, Bucky found a fucking cat.

The kitten perked its head up as he approached, giving a tiny murp of greeting. It's little blue eyes watched him closely as he approached, glinting faintly in the half-light. Tony chucked it under its chin, feeling the vibrations of its purrs as it settled back in with its head on its paws, evidently appeased. Tony just stood and stared for a long moment, feeling something in his chest loosen at the sight of his friend (almost boyfriend? complicated companion?) all snuggled up to a tiny scrap of purring fuzz. He felt behind himself, sitting on the side of the coffee table to watch the little miracle napping on the couch in front of him. 

Tony certainly wasn’t going to wake him, but that didn’t stop him from reaching into his pocket and grabbing his phone, swiping to the photos app to sneak a couple of photos of Bucky’s lax face. Bucky was going to kill him when he woke up, but that would make the pictures all the sweeter.


	3. Nutmeg, Vanilla, and Cinnamon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A photo shows Bucky bathed in morning light, dressed in nothing save a pair of boxers and an apron that says "kiss the cook." He has a victorious grin on his face, hard at work delicately transferring bacon from a pan to a plate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fill for Iron Man Flash Bingo 002 - "Triumph"

Tony generally took a while to wake up. 

That wasn’t how it used to be - when he still lived with his parents he was able to shoot awake at a moment’s notice, fully aware and ready for anything. When he complained about this at his therapy session his therapist was less than sympathetic, telling him it was a good thing he was getting better sleep these days.

Tony disagreed but had enough tact not to say so.

So, when he blinked himself awake one spring morning, feeling warm and sleepy and profoundly like he could sink back into the pillows for a little more sleep, it didn’t seem like anything was out of the ordinary.

Until he roused himself enough to realize he smelled the rich smell of bacon and something faint that tickled at his nose, like vanilla and spices.

Around the same time, he remembered that he ran a cafe, and he should have been downstairs prepping the baked goods well before the sun should have been streaming through his window. Quite suddenly he was very awake, scrambling out of bed to pull on a pair of pants and dash into the hallway, hearing a sizzling and clanking coming from his kitchen. He was drawn up short when he reached the doorway into the kitchen, spying none other than Bucky Barnes in Tony’s kiss the cook apron (a gag gift from Rhodey) and boxers (a boring grey, more the pity), cursing softly as he quietly wrangled a rasher of bacon out of a pan. Tony was helpless to do much more than watch, his heartbeat slowing from its panicked pace as Bucky puttered around the kitchen like he belonged there.

Tony slipped back to his bedroom before Bucky could notice him, putting on a shirt and grabbing his phone. He padded back down the hallway, silently swiping to the camera app on his phone as he reached the doorway. He snapped a few pictures of Bucky bent over grabbing a pan from the oven. 

Tony did his best to hold back a grin; it was french toast with nutmeg. Apparently, Bucky had listened to that particular sidebar on the merits of a well-spiced french toast.

He contented himself with watching for a long moment, lazily holding his phone out just a little. He could hear something low and bluesy playing over the radio on the counter, and Bucky was humming along, bobbing his head as he started fiddling with the bacon again.

Tony opened his camera again, zooming in on the small, triumphant grin Bucky allowed himself. In the quiet light of that spring morning, he looked like the best gift he had ever received, and Tony felt his heart melt, just a little. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, do yourself a favor and put nutmeg and vanilla extract in your french toast. Just cinnamon makes for a sad toast.


End file.
